Background In Tanzania, the number of registrations for two- or three-wheeled vehicles has been climbing since 2006. In 2016, more than 50% of registered vehicles were motorised two- or three-wheelers; 23% of the deaths caused by traffic accidents were riders of this kind of vehicle.

One of the great challenges for countries like Tanzania is to produce and enforce policy and regulation to improve road safety indicators. Understanding the behaviour of road users like commercial (called ‘Bodaboda’) and recreational African motorcycle drivers is an important step towards this goal.

Methods This study is the second part of a traffic psychology project for Bodaboda drivers of the Arusha city in Tanzania. The questionnaire, written in Swahili, was distributed to 513 Bodaboda drivers in December 2016.

The 513 subjects replied to 46 questions to investigate seven different aspects: demographic information, protective equipment, passengers, motorcycle maintenance, police fines and bribes, and driver’s crash history.

Results Forty-eight per cent of the respondents had been involved in a crash since they started driving. Perceived crash factors were external: the most frequent cause mentioned was the poor driving skills of other drivers (56.1%). For 10.5% of the subjects, crash-avoidance was impossible because crashes are predestined, thus unavoidable.

Conclusion This data gives us important insights into road safety experience and perceptions of professional motorcycle drivers in Arusha, Tanzania. This data, combined with other observational data, is useful to design better policies and regulations in the sector.